Electric motor for ceiling-fans.



No. 730,985. PATENIBD JUNE A416, 1908.

P. SWAN. ELECTRIC MOTOR POR CEILING FANS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 1s, 190s No Mohn..

mi lk w/mnfn fung/ NtTED STATES Patented June 16, 1,903.

ATENT Canica.

PETER-SWAN, OF CALCUTTA, INDIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters VPatent No. 730,985, dated June16, 1903. Application filed January 1s, 1903. 'serial No. 138,867. (Nomaar.;

To @ZZ whom t ntctg/ concern:

Beit known that I, PETER SWAN, a subject of the King of Great Britainand Ireland and Emperor of India, and a resident of Calcutta,l India,(whose postal address is 52/3'Park street, Calcutta, India,) haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Motors forCeiling-Fans, (for which I have applied for British Patent, No. 16,072,dated July 19, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

My said invention relates to electric motors for ceiling-fans, whichmotors have their armaturespindles revolving in a vertical axis; and ithas for its object to improve the arrangement and construction of suchspindles, so as thereby to render the motors more efficient andreliable. These electric motors have hitherto been generally made withan upper and a lower bearing, the upper bearing having an oil-cupattached to the armaturespindle revolving in the said bearings. It isfound in practice, however, that this arrangement is defective, as oilconstantly nds its way down the spindle from the upper bearing onto thecommutator or onto the armature-coils, whereitcorrodes theinsulation andcauses short-circuiting. My invention is designed to overcome suchdefect; and it consists in dispensing with the upper bearing and oil-cupand employing only a lower bearing of improved construction, so that thearmature will run true and neither vibrate nor tilt, while at the sametime ample provision is made for the efficient and continuouslubrication of the said bearing.V

The invention is represented in the accom'-v panying drawings, in whichthesame reference letters are used to mark the same orlike partswherever they are repeated.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings are vertical sections of the lowerportions of the electric motors and showing the improved lower bearingas applied to motors of the drumarmature type.

As shown in Fig. 1 the improved bearing for the vertically-mountedspindle A of the armature B is formed on the lower cover C of the motor;but instead of the bearing be ing made fiat, as usual, a conicalbearingsurface C is provided, the usual washer-pieces or bearing parts Aon the spindle being *portion C2 of the cover.

Shaped' to [it the said bearing. In some cases -end by means of a uutD', an adjusting washer-piece D2 being preferably interposed between theholder and the guide portion. Lateral openings C3 are formed in arecessed part C4, formed on the cover immediately above the bearing,similar openings C5 being also formed in the lower end of the guide Adrum-shaped oil receptacle or cup E is formed on the'upper side of thefan-holder D, being made narrower at the top than at the bottom, andwhen the motor is yworking the oii placed in the cup passes to thespindle A through the inlets YC5 and then travels up the spindle to thebearing, the shape of the bearing causing it to act as a pump, so thatthe bearing is thoroughly lubricated, the surplus oil escapingthereafter to the oil-cup through the outlets C3 above the bearing. Theoil-cup E instead of being formed to rotate with the fanholder D may bearranged as a separate fixed piece.` IVith the hereinbefore-describedarrangement and construction of bearing the defect alluded to connectedwith the present `methods of carrying the armature-spindle is overcome,as the oil for lubrication cannot reach the commutator or armature partsto aifect them. 'With this improved arrangement also the spindle Abecomes self-centering in action, while the shape of the bearing causesit to rotate with perfect steadiness, so that the armature runs truewithout tendency to vibrate or tilt.

In the example shown in Fig. 2 the shape of the bearing is slightlymodified, its surface being of convex form and extending down to thelower end of the cover C, so that this bearingI is considerably deeperthan that shown in Fig. 1. The curve forming the conveX C is preferablyformed after the style of what is known as, Schieles antifrictioncurve.'The bearing-piece A' on the spindle A is preferably made of hard whitemetal, such as Babbitt, and is fixed to the spindle in any convenientway, a concave surface being formed on the bearing-piece A', so as toIOO i i l y I 730,985

t the aforesaid convex bearing Cf on the cover C. The`gradually-increasing diameter of the bearing-piece A'from bottom to topcauses it to act as a centrifugal pump, so that When the spindle isrotating oil is sucked out of the oil-cup E through the inlets C intothe bearing, so as to thoroughly lubricate it, the surplus oil whichescapes at the top end of the bearing returning to the oilcup throughthe outlets C3. A vulcanized cover G is provided over the top of thebearing, so as to prevent the oil from dashingl up to alect thearmature. This construction of bearingF thus gives an exceptionallysteady and smooth running spindle and armature.

. In the claims I use the term conoidal in a sense to include either thetrue cone of Fig.

l or the curved surface of Fig. 2, the object being to so shapethisbearing part as to cause the oil to creep up between the surfaces upon ithe revolution of the conoidal bearing.

ing an oil-receiver encircling thc bearing, and oil-ducts communicatingwith the bearing parts and the oil-cup so that the eonoidal bearingparts may act as a pump to circulate the oil, substantially asdescribed.

2. In electric motors for ceiling-fans having drum-armatures revolving,`about a vertical axis, a lower cover fitted below the armature, aconoidal bearing formed in the cover, a vertical spindle fitted to thearma- PETER SWAN.

Witnesses:

IAGEsH CHANDER Bonn, JATIsH CHANDER DASS.

